The Little One
by Cyeshinni
Summary: Late in the afternoon and stressed from her days work at the hospital, Sakura is given a little thing that makes her forget all of her worries and allows her to enjoy the little things in life. Hints of SakuraxNeji if you look hard enough. One-shot


Yo everyone! I hope you enjoy this one-shot! Its my first time writing with these two so please leave your thought on how I did! If you guys don't tell me, I wont be able to grow and learn! :(

I don't own Naruto and anyone from the anime, but Duri and Yue are my characters.

Enjoy!

oOo

Sighing softly to herself, Sakura stepped out of the operating room. Letting the swinging door go to crash into the other one violently, she pulled her hair tie from its place at the back of her head with one hand and ran her fingers of the other through her bubble gum tresses. She closed her eyes and enjoyed the relaxing feeling the motion brought. While her body started to relax, her mind did not.

The operation was a success, but it was draining, both mentally and psychically. Naruto really needed to stop jumping into battles, it was going to kill him one day because on that day, his pink hair sister wouldn't be around to save his ass. Opening her eyes, Sakura glanced over her shoulder at the close doors that she had spent three hours behind patching up her fox brother. He was going to held here for at lease fours day and during that time Sakura planned on drilling it into Fox-boy's head the importance of thinking before acting in battle.

If her voice didn't get the message across, she knew her fist would do the job.

Sakura grinned to herself as she slowly shook her head as she made her way to the cafeteria.

That boy would never learn and she would see his smiling face back in the hospital in a few weeks. He would tell her he didn't have time and she would pound in the top of his head as she yelled at him that there was always time. He would grin sheepishly up at her from the floor while he rubbed the back of his head and she would sigh.

Sakura paused in her quest to make it to the cafeteria to feed her raging stomach, her head tilted to one side and a frown pulled at her lips. She knew the event happened more than it should, but she never noticed that it always held the same characteristics and would always end the same.

With his grin and her sigh.

Shaking her head, she dismissed it as unimportant information, seeing as how it would repeat itself no matter how much she tried to change him. His recklessness was as much a part of him as his big heart was. No one could take one part but not the other and still have Naruto be Naruto. It just wouldn't work and what you where left with would be disappointing and then and only then, would you wonder why you picked one part instead of accepting both with open arms.

The pink hair nurse smiled softly.

It was worry that drove her to repeat herself to him on being safe. It was fear that he would never return from a mission, that pushed her to hold on to those important to her. And it was the cold fingers of dread wrapped around her pounding heart, that told her that time was short and she couldn't hold onto the past, all she could do was live for the future.

Sasuke was gone and she couldn't do anything to help the missing nin, but she would be damned if she lost Naruto the same way without putting up a fight.

Hell would freeze over first.

With a nod of her head to straighten her resolve, Sakura turned to her right and glanced out the bay window that over looked the main street that ran in front of the hospital, where she idly watched people pass by. Couples, locked together by their joined hands, had eyes only for each other and the small shops. Children ran about, playing one game or another, that only they knew the rules to. The elderly generation clambered by the gates to the hospital, walking stick in hand and looking around at the younger generation with envy and longing.

None of them looked in her direction.

As she watched, Sakura's tired mind wondered away from her and submerged itself into her memories.

It had been four years since the last sighting of Sasuke and at this point in time, Sakura couldn't care less if she ever saw him again. As the days turned into weeks and weeks shifted into months and months morphed into years, her school girl crush on her silent emo teammate faded. Then when Naruto was brought back half dead, all of her feelings for her missing teammate stopped all together. Sakura felt nothing for the revenge driven boy, who would never be released from its hold and return to them.

She wasn't sure what she would feel if she ever did see him, but she did know how she would act. She would drive a solid chracka enhanced right hook into the side of his face and with great satisfaction, watch his rag-doll body fly away from her, crashing into everything in his path. Then when he landed, blooded and broken, she would walk away without ever looking back.

At any rate, Sakura didn't think she would get her wish.

Uchiha Sasuke was gone, lost in the twisted plot of Orochumaru.

Naruto and herself, though, had grown.

Naruto wasn't satisfied with reaching his goal step by step or day by day, he took leaps and bounds to reach it, never looking back on the past, but also never forgetting what happened. He grew as each day passed, growing strong and more determined to protect this village they called home. Him and the rest of his ANBU teammates.

A year and a half ago, he had all, but demanded Hinata's hand in marriage and her father had eventually given in to the Fox-boy. Now the young heiress was due any day now with their first born and Sakura was excited for her brother and friend and proud of how far they had come since their genin days.

But Naruto wasn't the only one growing stronger.

Sakura's medic skills where also growing and with her super human strength, is was not surprising when she past the ANBU test on her first try. She had been so proud of herself and she knew she had only past because she had the determination to take this step and allow her name and face to be blacked out from Leaf's history. She had past because she didn't want to wait behind for her wounded teammates to be brought to her so she could fix them. No, she wanted to be right there to aide them seconds after they've been wounded. Enough people had taken care of her while she was growing up, now it was her turn to take care of everyone.

Naruto had been the first one to hug her after she past and as he pulled back, he handed over her mask with one of his trade mark fox grins and he told her who her captain was, Hyuuga Neji.

The sound of a baby crying, snapped Sakura from her thoughts and dispelled her daydreams. Glancing behind herself, she saw one of the nurses that worked in the Children and New Born Wing and in her arms was a bundle, that screamed for attention. The nurse's eyes filled with relief when she spotted Sakura and made a mad dash over to the pink haired medic.

"Sakura-san!" The older woman called. When the nurse stopped in front of Sakura and the younger medic noticed she was close to tears, born from stress. "Can you watch her for a moment, Sakura-san? I can't find anyone else and I can't put her down to make her bottle because she screams louder. And I'm afraid she'll wake up the rest of the children."

Sakura smiled kindly at the over stressed nurse then stepped up to her with a nod of her head. "Of course, Yue-chan," she said as she reached for the baby. Wrapping her arms around the babe in a relaxed, but strong hold, Sakura smiled at the scrunched up red face of the new born. Nod at Yue, sent the nurse running for little kitchen where the bottles where made during the night shifts, but Sakura's attention wasn't on the retreating nurse, just the little girl in her arms.

"Hush, now Little One," she cooed as she gently bounced the bundle and continued to walk down the hall. Thoughts of getting something to eat where lost to her as she tried to calm the upset babe. "That's enough fussing for one night, you'll wake everyone up."

She continued to mutter useless words to the baby, knowing the new born wouldn't be able to understand what she was saying, but Sakura knew her tone of voice would help the little thing calm down.

"Hush, Little One," she muttered as she slowed her walk, finding it hard to bounce slowly and walk normally. As soon as she found a smooth rhythm, Sakura noticed the baby wasn't screaming any more. In fact, she wasn't crying at all. Focusing on the babe's face, she found it staring up at her, with big pale lavender eyes.

Hyuuga eyes.

"Hinata-san delivered early?" Sakura whispered as she paused in step and bounce as surprised filled her. She quickly started to walk again as the baby started to fuss over the lack of movement. "Sorry, Little One. There now, dry those pearly eyes of yours," she said softly.

Continuing down the hall, Sakura never let her eyes leave the baby's cute little peach shape face. She smiled softly down at her as she whispered, "You will be well loved, Little One. You will be taught to be a kind person, a loyal friend, and a determine defender of those you care for and love. You will forever be known for who your parents are, but do not hate them for that. Their names will act as shields when you have no others and give you that second that you will need to turn the tables and over come your opponent."

Sakura trailed her pointer finger down the baby's cheek, her smile grew as the baby just stared back at her.

"You will be strong, Little One."

Returning her hand back to the position it had been on the small of the baby's back, Sakura entered the medium size waiting room with intentions of turning around and heading back down the hallway to meet Yue-chan, but a voice from behind the nurse's station made her pause in step.

"Sakura-san, can you show the Captain to his room. He refuses to be help there and you seem to have nothing better to do than mill about," a blonde hair nurse sneered at Sakura's back, who refused to turn around and acknowledge her.

Sakura looked up from the bundle in her arms and glanced over her should, only to locks eyes that mirrored the babe's she's holding. Hyuuga Neji. She frowns at him, completely ignoring the glaring nurse, who noticed and hissed quietly at her as she glared harder at the ANBU medic. The little act didn't get by Neji, but he held his tongue as his medic spoke.

"You should let them do their job, Captain."

"Aa."

She sighed as the baby started to fuss again from the lack of movement. Bouncing the bundle again, Sakura nodded for him to follow her before she started back down the hallway, muttering to the baby as she went trying to keep her quiet as they reentered a section where others slept.

The snobbish nurse handed Neji a folder holding all of his medical records and on a sticky note, plastered in the center of the folder, was his room number. Glancing quickly at the little sigh that showed what rooms where down this hallways, Neji found his room number would land him somewhere in the middle of the two numbers posted.

"So this is where you hide when your not on missions," Neji stated as he smirked at the back of his pink haired medic.

She tossed him a grin over her shoulder before facing forward, keeping an eye out for Yue-chan. "It seemed like a good place to work so I can keep my skills sharp, Captain," she replied and Neji could hear the smile in the women's voice.

"As long as you stay sharp."

Sakura snorted in a very unladylike fashion. "I've come to far to fail now. I will never let myself go back to the crybaby I was when I was a genin. To many people depend on me and I won't let them down."

Neji nodded, not surprised by her statement. "It is not in your nature to be weak and summit."

Sakura lifted her right shoulder in a half shrug. "Not many more."

"Aa," he agreed. "If it was, you would not be on my team or even in ANBU."

"Thanks for the boost of confidants, Captain," Sakura said as she rolled her eyes, knowing he wouldn't be able to see the action.

He grinned at her.

"You can't seem to stay out of trouble, can you Captain?" Sakura asked as she peeked at him from over her shoulder and scanned his body quickly, taking in all his wounds, before looking away.

"This is the result of training with Guy, who took off his weights, Lee, at his third gate and Tenten with four weapon scrolls."

"Aa, but your still wounded and my point still stands," Sakura said with a cheeky grin.

Neji snorted lightly. "You will not let yourself get weak, what makes you think I will either?"

"I don't damage myself to the point of needing medical attention, Captain."

"That is because of your medic abilities, Haruno," Neji idly pointed out as he glanced out of a window before passing it by. "Any wound you sustain can be healed while you continue to fight and the larger wounds are taken care of after all the fighting is finished."

"Aa," Sakura agreed as her lips bloomed into a smile. "A point for you, Captain."

"How many does this put me ahead of you now?" Neji asked.

"Four, but I still think I should get a point for every time I have to heal you."

"No, if I allowed that then this game would be unfair and I would not be able to keep up with your score. You are just going to have to use that brain of yours, Haruno."

"What room does it say on the paper? Sakura asked, changing topics quickly so she didn't have to listen to him rubbing it in her face of his four point lead. She was good at making up ground and if he kept it up, he was going to regret it.

Neji looked down at the folder in his hand, allowing her to change topics without a fuss. "312."

"Ah, thank you." Another moment of silence as Sakura's sharp eyes quickly scanned for his room number. "Here we are," Sakura chirped as she turned slowly to face him. The bundle in her arms didn't like the pitch of her voice and started to scream again, little fists rose up and begin to shake. "Oh! Oh, there there," she cooed softly as she rocked the baby. "Hush, Little One."

It took Sakura all of ten seconds to notice that this time her coos would not be enough to calm the baby, who was hungry and irritated. She started to hum an old lullaby that she remembered her mother would sing to her when she was scared, but time had taken the words from Sakura's memories and only felt the tune, which seemed to be enough for the baby who's screaming subsided to bearable fussing. With things semi quite, she nodded for Neji to enter the room that they where standing in front of.

Grabbing the doors handle, Neji opened it and maneuver the door peg to hold it open before he slowly made his way to the bed. His wounds where finally catching up to him and taking their toll on his battered body. With a small sigh, he lowered his form onto the bed, placing his medical folder on the bed next to him before returning his attention back to Sakura and the baby in her arms. He found her standing in the doorway, facing sideways so she could keep an eye out for the nurse in charge of the baby in her arms, he imaged and he noticed her eyes darted in his direction every now and then, keeping an eye on her pesky captain as well. The thought almost made him chuckle.

Focusing all of his attention back on the pink haired medic, Neji watched as she cooed to the baby, but never took her eyes from the hallway, except to glance at him. Shifting his gaze to the pink blanket in his medic's arms, Neji tilted his head to the side, trying to catch a glimpse of the baby's face. When he failed to see, no matter how much he moved, he put his curiosity into words.

"Who's baby?"

Sakura smiles. "This is Hinata-san's little girl." She pauses for a second then turned to him. "Your second cousin, Hyuuga-san. Or does this make her your niece?" She smiled at him in a knowing way and though he had never spoken it out loud to anyone, he found in her eyes and her kind smile, the secret knowledge that he thought of his cousins as his own sisters.

Coughing lightly to the side to hide the light blush the bloomed to life when he understood that she had seen and noticed one of his secret. A secret he never planned on telling anyone, but Sakura had just proved words were not needed to understand and he had to wonder how many others knew of the feeling he had for his cousins. Turning back to her, he nodded at the new addition to his family.

"I'm surprised you can hold her and get her to stop screaming. Hyuuga children tune into their parents seconds after birth and will only stop their fussing when they're in their parent's arms."

"I must have a mother's touch so strong its hard for even a Hyuuga to ignore," she said softly as she giggled. "Do you want to hold her, Captain?"

Neji nodded.

Sakura entered the room and gently laid the baby in her captain's arms, being care of the wounds on his arms. She returned to her place in the doorway, keeping an eye out for Yue-chan and the other on the male holding his niece, waiting for the hints of the baby's wight to bother his wounds.

The only thing she found when she glanced at them was the baby was completely silent and relaxed as she calmly gaze up at her uncle.

"Hm, that's more than I ever got," Sakura said as she clicked her tongue and crossed her arms over her chest. "Your young must recognize family as well, Hyuuga-san."

The male nodded. "She's early."

"Yes, by two weeks if I'm not mistaken," Sakura confirmed with a nod of her head. "I haven't checked on Hinata-san, but for the Little One to be away from her, I'd bet she's sleeping."

Neji gently traced the tip of his pointer finger down the babe's cheek, only to frown at the blood left behind on the ivy skin. Sakura quickly noticed the frown and asks what was wrong. He answered by showing her his fingers without looking away from the baby. She grinned softly before reentering the room and headed for the cabinets to look for something to clean the blood off. Finding the square cloth that was usually used to dry off the glass ware after it had been washed, Sakura made her way over to her captain and the baby and knelled down.

Gently wiping the blood off the baby's face, Sakura noticed the baby's eyes stayed locked with the ones that mirrored her. She grinned to herself, but didn't say anything that might bother the two Hyuugas. With the baby's face clean, Sakura took hold of Neji's hand, which had stayed in the air and went lax when her skin met his, a sign of his trust and faith. She cleaned the red liquid from his hand and reaching into the pocket in her white coat, she pulled out a band-aid and sealed it over the wound on the back of his hand.

"There," she said softly so she didn't spook the baby. "Your wounds a shallow enough, but I might as well take care of them now. Can't have your blood getting on this pretty little girl and tainting her pure innocence." Sakura giggled at the sharp glare she received from her captain at her words. Placing her hand on his arm, she aloud her healing chracka to flow into her hand and carefully feed it to his wounds.

The process took a few minutes to complete, but as she worked most of her attention went to listening for the hurried foot steps of Yue's return. Between listening and healing, Sakura noticed Neji didn't speak to the baby, but kept running the back his finger down her check, in a slow soothing motion. The baby's eye drooped and her breathing evened out, as the Dream King carried her away on adventure that she would never remember.

With a small pat on Neji's arm signing she was finished, Sakura stood and made her way back to the doorway. Glancing down the silent hall, Sakura checked for any sign of Yue.

Glancing up from the sleeping baby in his arms, Neji voiced a observation that he had been meaning to ask about since leaving the waiting room.

"I didn't think anyone here disliked you," he said softly, catching Sakura's attention.

Peeking at him from the corner of her eye, Sakura asked, "What makes you say that?"

"That blonde nurse and the manner in which she treated you. You allowed her to disrespect you and you didn't put her back into her place."

Sakura chuckled. "Shishou refused to teach her, but the next day I stumbled into her office and demand she take me in and teach me everything she knew." Sakura grinned at him without humor. "Duri doesn't understand why Shishou said no to her and until she does, I will not lower myself to her level and be petty." She shrugged an shoulder as she glance back at the Hyuuga with a small smile.

"She wanted to train under Shishou because she thought it would increase her status and popularity. It might, but that shouldn't be the sole reason someone would go through all that. There's so much more to it and you have to be ready it give everything to succeed, something she didn't seem to grasp at all. So for the most part I avoid her whenever I can so I don't have to put up with her jealousy." Turning back to the hallway, Sakura looked up in time to see a frantic nurse rushing around, with a bottle in hand. "Yue-chan," she called, stepping farther into the hallway so the other women could see her and raising a hand to wave at her. "We're here."

"Oh, thank you, Sakura-san!" Yue gasped as she bowed to the young women, only to blink at her in question. "The baby...?"

Sakura smiled and turned her attention to Neji as she placed a hand on her hip. "Hyuuga-san wished to hold her."

Yue smiled kindly at the young man as she entered the room and made her way to his side. "Oh, you got her to go to sleep," she whispered. "I will take her back to her mother and try feeding her when she wakes again."

Yue reached for the baby as Neji lifted his arms, giving the little one over to the nurse in charge of her. As Yue straighten up and nodded at Neji, the baby in her arms woke and started to scream.

"Oh, hush, you cute little thing," Yue said as she brought the bottle to the baby's lips, hoping to get her to eat instead of scream.

"I will feed her," the male said as he took the little girl from the surprised nurse's arms and held her in one arm and the bottle in the other. "Hush," he softly ordered her as he gently placed the the nipple of the bottle on her tongue. The baby quieted quickly and began to drink her evening meal as her uncle watched over her.

Sakura smiled at the sight of her big strong captain holding his little niece in a protective, but loving hold. Gently touch Yue's elbow, drawing the older nurse's attention to herself, Sakura said, "Go, continue your rounds, Yue. I'll take the Little One back to Hinata-san so I can check on how she is doing."

"All right, Sakura-san," Yue said as she hesitated for a second and glanced between the Hyuugas and the emerald eyed medic before accepting the change and exiting the room to returned to her rounds.

Sakura watched her go then turned back to Neji and found the bottle in his hand was just about gone. Stepping up to the two on the bed, she watched her captain carefully set the empty bottle off to the side and before he could bring the baby upright to lay her against his shoulder, she burped.

Neji smiled softly down at her then glanced up at the medic in front of him.

"I'll take her now," Sakura said as she held out her arms and carefully took the bundle from him. "If your awake later on, I'll stop by with word on how Hinata-san is doing," Sakura promised as she made her way for his door.

"Find out her name, will you?" Neji asked.

Gently kicking the door peg out of it position from under the door, Sakura let it bump into her back as she turned and smiled back at her captain. "Will do!"

She stepped out of his room as she flashed him another smile then disappears behind the door frame and the closing door. He listened until he couldn't hear her footsteps anymore before he relaxed, knowing Sakura would keep her promise.

She always did.

Laying out on his bed, Neji tucked a hand under his head, while the other rested against his stomach. He yawned as he shifted his shoulders to find a comfortable position to spend the night in then closed his eyes and relaxed completely with a long heavy sigh.

As the Dream King came for him, the last thing Neji was aware of was sparking emerald eyes and bright pink hair.

Then blackness over took him and he remembered no more.

oOo

Hokay, there you have it gang! What did you think? Was it any good?

Don't forget to review on your way out!

I love hearing what people think of my stories! Your comments make me want to write more so don't let me down!

You all rock my socks! ^___^

~ Cyeshinni


End file.
